Can Fara 1.5 9B run on Pixel 8a?
YES — Runs, barely
Grade B · 64/100 · formula estimate
What this means
Our estimate says Fara 1.5 9B should fit, but there is very little memory left for the operating system and other apps.
Download the Q2_K version, which is about 4.1 GB. We expect it to use about 5.6 GB of the roughly 6 GB available to a model on this phone.
At the estimated speed, a roughly 300-word answer may take about 53 seconds to finish.
This result is calculated from the phone and model specifications. It has not been measured on this exact phone and setup.
7.5tokens/s
estimated · reading pace
5.6GB
needed at Q2_K
Q2_K
quant checked
B
grade · 64/100
needs 5.6 GBusable 6 GB
Google Tensor G38 GB RAMCPU / GPU
Make it bearable
1
Drop context to 2K — saves ~0.4 GB of KV cache and a little speed.
2
Close every other app before loading — the 0.4 GB headroom is real; Android may kill the app otherwise.
3
Expect throttling after ~10 min of sustained generation on a phone chassis.
See how fast it feels
Estimated at 7.5 tokens/s — reading pace. A ~300-word reply takes about 53 seconds on this phone.
Where the memory goes
| Component | Detail | GB |
|---|---|---|
| Model weights | Q2_K GGUF (4.1 GB) + mmap overhead | 4.3 |
| KV cache | 4K context window | 0.7 |
| Runtime | llama.cpp + app overhead | 0.6 |
| Total needed | at Q2_K, 4K context | 5.6 |
| Usable on Pixel 8a | 8 GB RAM − Android system reserve | 6 |
| Headroom | left for the OS and your other apps | 0.4 |
Pick your quant
| Quant | Download | Verdict | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q2_K BEST HERE | 4.1 GB | ! Runs, barely | ~7.5 tokens/s |
| Q3_K_M | 4.9 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| IQ4_XS | 5.2 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q4_0 | 5.5 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q4_K_S | 5.6 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q4_K_M | 5.9 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q5_K_M | 6.9 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q6_K | 7.7 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
| Q8_0 | 9.5 GB | ✕ Won't fit | won't fit |
Get it running in 3 steps
1
Install PocketPal from Google Play — free, no account needed.
2
Download "Fara 1.5 9B Q2_K" in the in-app model hub — 4.1 GB, use Wi-Fi. Search Hugging Face for
bartowski/Fara1.5-9B-GGUF and pick the Q2_K file.3
Set context to 4K — expect ~7.5 tokens/s on this phone.
Related checks
More on Pixel 8a
Fara 1.5 9B on other phones